Fiserv contracted me and several others to run Tandem/Unix support for multiple shifts. Our training was very structured and the lead technician was very professional. Once training was over and our shifts were established, all that changed.

The shifts we were told we'd get were not the same once we started working. I was told in the interview I'd be getting 2nd shift Monday thru Friday. Instead, I was stuck with the graveyard shift which ran through the weekends. Since I was on lay staff at my church, I politely asked if this could be changed. I didn't make a big issue out of it; just respectfully inquired

The woman who took over as our team lead (and who was responsible for our shifts) openly criticized me in front of my co-workers. She made it seem like I was a drag on the team, and insinuated I was some kind of religious nut. I went ahead and performed the graveyard shift, because I didn't want to stir up any trouble.

Adjusting to this shift was not easy since it my first overnight work. While I performed my tasks flawlessly (some of which involved hourly batch processes) I did have to get up and walk around a bit on my breaks, so I could stay awake.

The following Monday, after my shift, I got a call from my recruiter about "suspicious behavior". Apparently, this manager told them my walking around in this manner was "highly suspicious" and that I "didn't have enough to do". I cleared up this misconception with my recruiter, letting them know that I was simply trying to stay awake. All my work had been timely and I had tracked all potential security issues during my shift. Regardless, the recruiter told me to be careful, since I was all of a sudden on thin ice with the company.

I realized pretty quickly this woman had it out for me, based whole church comment. She decided to punish me my assigning me to assist another night guy run cable. This put me in an even more compromising position, since I had hourly tasks to perform on the Tandem server. All this time, this women never spoke to me directly about it. Not once. It was almost as if she was afraid to talk to the very people she hired.

In speaking with others, I learned that her department had an alarming amount of turnover since she was moved into that position. People would be working there one day, and then mysteriously disappear a week later. I recall once instance where a computer operator developed an allergic reaction to her co-worker's cologne (almost to the point of breaking out in hives). Instead of moving her to a different location, they simply fired her.

My last week there, I alerted the staff to a server that had gone down. It was a pretty severe issue, and we all had to get on a conference call about it. Two hours later, the issue had been resolved. The senior manager (over the female manager who didn't like me) even personally thanked me for spotting the issue in time.

The following Tuesday, I get another call from my recruiter. Guess what? Fiserv had ENDED my assignment. This time, they claimed I was "destroying files" and "banging my head against the wall".

There was not an ounce of truth to what she said. She didn't even bother to look for an excuse; she just made something up. If I hadn't been able to secure a job soon after, I'm pretty sure I would have filed a wrongful termination suit. The staffing agency agreed this was wrong, and even mentioned they were about to stop doing business with Fiserv.

I later found out they let go of the other people on my team as well. Probably the same B.S. as I went through. I question this company's appointment of management and overall ethics. I would encourage anyone looking to work at Fiserv to seriously consider what they are getting into. This company does NOT have your best interests in mind.

Advice to ManagementAdvice

Appoint people with proven leadership skills, rather than going by the buddy system. Communicate with contractors as well as full-time staff. After all, they're carrying the bulk of the load. Get some ethics, for God's sake.